Phenology of benthic detritus input, storage and processing in an Alaskan subarctic stream

• Main Author: Cowan, Cathy A.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1983
• Subjects: Fairbanks; Subarctic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/5214

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1983 Allochthonous leaf litter input, storage of benthic detritus, processing rates of leaf litter, and macroinvertebrate standing crop were measured in Monument Creek, a second-order stream in interior Alaska. Litter input and storage of benthic detritus were very low in comparison to temperate streams. Processing rates of 5 g experimental leaf packs of birch and willow were moderate, while alder was processed very rapidly. Insect densities on leaf packs were relatively high, and approached domination by shredders (consumers of whole leaf tissue) as processing progressed. Associations between size classes of benthic detritus and standing crop of invertebrate feeding groups were generally positive but very weak, despite high shredder densities and low detritus storage. Productive capacities of high latitude streams may be fundamentally limited by low allochthonous input.